Q&A

Alain de Botton, 39, was born in Zurich. He studied history at Cambridge University and completed a masters in philosophy at King's College London. At 23, he published Essays In Love, which went on to sell two million copies worldwide. His other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004) and The Architecture Of Happiness (2006). He is a founding member of The School Of Life and his new book is called The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work. He is married with two children and lives in London.

When were you happiest?

The summer just after finishing How Proust Can Change Your Life.

What is your greatest fear?

Dying before my children are adults.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

The architect Peter Zumthor, for the baths at Vals in Switzerland.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Impatience with difficult projects: panicking and giving up too quickly.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Machismo.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

Trying to kiss someone who wasn't interested.

What is your most treasured possession?

My father's copy of Montaigne's Essays.

Where would you like to live?

In a desert, in a house designed by Herzog & de Meuron.

What would your super power be?

To read the minds of others.

What makes you depressed?

My stupidity.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

My baldness.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?

My father.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

John Malkovich.

What is the worst thing anyone's said to you?

"You can't write."

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Hotel rooms.

To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?

To two ex-girlfriends, for my cowardice.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My two sons, Samuel and Saul.

What was the best kiss of your life?

With Charlotte, my wife, outside her flat, 11pm, 09/09/01.

Which living person do you most despise, and why?

A journalist at the Guardian - for being implausibly mean.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Charlotte Gainsbourg.

What is the worst job you've done?

Pulping books.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

I'd take a course in bread-making and open a small bakery.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

To Vermeer's studio to pick up a few works.

How do you relax?

Reading architecture magazines.

What is the closest you've come to death?

Some dodgy liver function tests in 2004.

Tell us a secret

I'm scared of the Guardian.

Tell us a joke

Almost funny is Seneca's, "What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears."